Actor Tim Curry on his “It” replacement Bill Skarsgård.
The remake of legendary horror author Stephen King’s “It” is due for release next Friday and we have already reported that the author is said to be very pleased with the finished film, having already watched the new version twice, but now the original Pennywise actor Tim Curry, has also waded in to give his opinion on the actor taking over the role of the terrifying, shapeshifting clown. Whilst Curry has yet to see the movie, he still heaped praise upon his replacement. Speaking to Screengeek the actor had this to say,
“Well, I like [Bill] Skarsgård very much, I think he’s very clever. It’ll be interesting what sort of clown face he puts on, because it’s not an obvious clown face at all. I’ve seen the trailer and you can’t really see him at all. So I’m fascinated to see it. He’s very good.”
Curry’s performance in the 1990 miniseries has been rightly praised and is surely the catalyst of many a childhood nightmare, but the actor does say that his one regret with the role was the TV miniseries’ final section where Pennywise was revealed to be a large spider like creature. Speaking to the Guardian Curry lamented;
“I was very disappointed by the ending, when I turned into a rather unconvincing spider.”
This sentiment was also shared by original director Tommy Lee Wallace and most of the cast as well, according to Curry and although the ending is somewhat true to the original story, Curry felt that it was something of a letdown for viewers. The actor though was full of praise for King and said,
“I’d read most of his books before doing It; he’s such a great storyteller. I love that he is more likely to quote Springsteen than Shakespeare. He’s got a great sense of how children think and speak. And a feeling for landscapes. I think he knows that everyone is vulnerable to something.”
One other actor yet to comment on the film is Will Poulter who was originally cast in the role of Pennywise for the upcoming remake but left shortly after original director Cary Fukunaga of True Detective fame, departed the project to be replaced by Andy Muschietti.
Up until now the exact reasons for Poulter’s departure had not been revealed but during an interview with Deadline the director explained that he had held conversations with the British born actor about the possibility of him staying on in the role;
“I was very, very intrigued by the prospect of working with Will, I always thought that he would be an amazing Pennywise. We talked a little bit about it, the idea of making the movie even though that Cary wasn’t there. Will basically expressed a feeling that he had slowly disengaged from playing that character, that was so dark and terrifying. It was a personal decision I respected, but I was eager and willing to find my own Pennywise and that’s what we did.”
The director of course went on to cast Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård in place of the 24yr old Poulter who has gone on star in Netflix’s War Machine and can currently been seen in Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit alongside Star Wars star John Boyega. Skarsgård has been speaking about his role recently telling the L.A. Times about how he emersed himself in the character of Pennywise and the methods behind it;
“There is something inexplicable about Pennywise, and it should be that way.”
The actor revealed that he had not used any other famous clown villains as inspiration;
“Heath Ledger’s Joker is rooted in the real; you can break down the psychology. But Pennywise is not” — (laughs) — “a real person.”
Even though the Pennywise isn’t real, the actor said that he wanted to bring a real sense of emotion to the role;
“I did want it to feel like he’s having fun. Pennywise enjoys scaring kids and eating them — when people are most scared, that’s when he’s happiest.”
“It” will be terrorising cinema screens in the US & UK September 8th.